1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an assembly and a method for using the assembly in cell culture production. In particular, the assembly comprises a chamber, a slide and means for separating the chamber from the slide.
2. Description of Related Art
It is frequently desirable in medical laboratory practice as well as in biological research to grow various bacteria, cells or tissues in particular media and then to examine the resulting growth. A particular use of this technique is in virology laboratories where host cells are grown and then used to detect vital activity.
Typical apparatus useful for carrying out biological reactions or growth, such as growing tissue cultures is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,726,764. The apparatus in U.S. Pat. No. 3,726,764 is a chamber attached to a glass slide with a liquid-impermeable seal. A special tool is wedged into the seal to separate the chamber from the glass slide.
A common problem which has confronted users of typical apparatus as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,726,764 is that a separate tool to remove the chamber from the slide is not convenient and in spite of the high level of skill and care in separating the chamber and the slide, the potential for not shattering the glass slide is not always assured, and therefore, contamination of the cells on the slide is also not assured.
With the increased emphasis on the efficacy of medical and research products, a need exists for an improved apparatus for effectively and efficiently carrying out cell culture production. The improved apparatus would better protect the person carrying out the procedure and would be comparatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture as compared to available devices.